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should preserve and enhance the county’s rural landscape. <br /> <br />The 2030 Comprehensive Plan, Appendix G, Land Use Classification and Overlay <br />Locational Criteria, identifies Rural Buffer as land designated in the Comprehensive <br />Plan as land adjacent to an urban or transition area which is rural in character and <br />which should remain rural, contain very low-density residential uses, and not require <br />urban services during the plan period. The resource-related activities with the use are <br />consistent with the rural nature of the area and, as presented, will not disrupt that <br />character, being on the perimeter of the Town of Chapel Hill’s ETJ, surrounded by <br />managed forests and County-owned lands that will not serve residential or <br />commercial purposes. <br /> <br /> Planning Principle 6. Water Resources Preservation: The County has finite water <br />resources to provide to future populations. The protection and management of the <br />County’s water resources should be a high priority. <br /> <br />The proposed project will utilize groundwater to service the future land use, as <br />permitted by the Orange County Division of Environmental Health. In addition, the site <br />plan provides for an 65-foot stream buffer to protect water quality downstream. <br /> <br /> Planning Principle 7. Promotion of Economic Prosperity and Diversity: Development <br />of a diversity of new businesses and expansion of existing businesses should occur in <br />Orange County. <br /> <br />The applicant will provide an underserved market with needed services, particularly <br />for the nearby municipalities. The applicant is proposing to relocate an existing tree <br />care and consulting company currently operating in Carrboro to this site. Relocation <br />of this business to a rural setting will more appropriately allow for it to operate while <br />continuing to serve the nearby municipal market than it can from its current placement <br />in a municipality. The applicant estimates that approval could create 10 – 20 new <br />jobs. <br /> <br /> Planning Principle 8. Preservation of Community Character: Future growth and <br />development should occur in a manner that preserves and enhances the existing <br />character of the County, its townships, and rural crossroads communities. <br /> <br />This agricultural support enterprise will be appropriately placed within the Rural Buffer <br />designated by both the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and the Orange County-Chapel <br />Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Agreement Land Use Plan. It shall be situated such that it <br />is surrounded by an actively managed forest, a former landfill, and a proposed <br />recreation facility. There will be no disruption to residential quality of life, and the <br />approval will introduce a new business to the area and to the county’s business <br />community. Placement of this business is in harmony with the immediately <br />surrounding area on the edge of the Town of Chapel Hill’s ETJ, and in the public <br />interest so as to conveniently place an arborist near municipal centers while <br />separating it from the residential and commercial activities of those areas for a more <br />144